


of wandering

by creabimus



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, rwby3 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 22:28:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6027708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creabimus/pseuds/creabimus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post Volume 3, RWBY rebuilds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	of wandering

Blake they find first; the ragtag team of friends Ruby christens RJNR becomes RBJNR, but it becomes only a daydream of sorts that doesn’t quite see its first light. With the shadow of a smile and the downcast of her moon-wide eyes, Blake apologizes and fades into the forest only an imprint.

Not even Jaune can assure Ruby that Blake will come back, and neither can Ruby fool herself into believing in the future - and that hurts her the most because she’s always had her hope before, yet in the midst of so much sorrow even it dwindles.

It is Ren who reminds her when he folds himself next to her in their makeshift camp. Orange flames dance upwards into the sky from the campfire and into the heavens to greet immortality; the contrast against the cool white is a comfort at first before Ruby remembers the soft yellow hair matted and tangled against the nape of Yang’s neck.

“I’m sure she had her reasons, but I know she’ll come back.” he tells her with the smallest of smiles. For someone who seems so expressionless, Ruby takes it with open arms. Not literally. Not yet. But they will get there.

Nora nods vigorously and points to Ren. “Ren is always right!” she adds before nearly catching her sleeve on fire.

“Nora.”

And she pulls her arm away, but she still grins. “I’m fine, Ren!” As if there was ever any doubt.

–

Weiss they find second. Running into Team ABRN, leaving Haven, and being forced back to square one leaves much to be desired, yet Weiss fills the void neatly with thinly veiled affection and relief. Ruby knows vaguely of her father’s personality, but he must be Grimm-incarnent if Weiss ran towards the (admittedly often) bumbling gang of teenagers.

Ruby wouldn’t have expected anything less. After all, they’re partners; it’s their job to understand each other.

“So,” Weiss begins with a tone nearly disapproving. But there’s a slow lift in the corners of her mouth, so Ruby’s heart ceases hammering in her chest. “you’ve been stumbling about Remnant looking for another enemy that Qrow told you about?”

Ruby nods. She smiles sheepishly. “That’s the gist. We haven’t found anything big yet, but we’re getting closer. I think. Having more people here helps.”

Weiss rolls her eyes. Smiles for real. “You dolt. Don’t you know you need an actual plan before you set out to save the world?”

“It’s the thought that counts, right?”

–

“How’s Yang?” Weiss finally asks (rather, whispers) in the relative silence the small inn should bring. Jaune’s snoring breaks it rather eventfully, but once Nora’s join the mix Ruby would swear a thunderstorm was upon them if she didn’t know better.

The candlelight, fluttering as if it were to be a butterfly’s wings, emits a glow that nearly fits the situation. “She’s hurting.” Ruby admits. “Blake hurt her more than she lets on, I think. I don’t…” She trails off. Lost for words for once in her life.

Weiss nudges her shoulder. “Yang will be fine, Ruby. She’s strong.” And Ruby wishes she could see Weiss’s smile; for all the beautiful things which exist in the world, the upwards curve of Weiss’s lips has to be the most gorgeous.

“I hope so.”

“Well, I know so. And we’ll find Blake and become Team RWBY again.”

–

Even long after Ruby and Weiss fall asleep, the candle never goes out.

–

Blake they find again third. Ruby tosses her arms around her and squeezes Blake as if her life depends on the strength of the hug, and Weiss stands back until Ruby pulls her in. The snow melts around them, and the sun shines just a hair brighter against the deep blue.

–

“Ruby, it was my fault Yang was hurt.” Blake touches her abdomen, but touch is a too obvious word when brush would work better. It’s a nervous habit of some sort; Ruby wishes she didn’t know the cause.

Weiss speaks up first. “Blake, that’s nonsense.” She almost says more before Blake interrupts her.

“She was protecting me, okay? It’s my fault Adam did that to her, and I can’t let it happen again - not to her, not to anyone.”

Blake collapses in on herself as the air leaves her lungs, whether voluntary or not Ruby has yet to discover. The buildings surrounding them exist in a way that Ruby knows where any possible exit is - and perhaps Blake does, too, for reasons Ruby thinks she’s finally beginning to understand. Not the whole, but bits and pieces.

“Blake…it’s not your fault.” Ruby says. It never will be she implies, but now the implications dissolve before scattering into the wind.

–

Ruby takes Blake’s hands in her own, eventually, and wills reassurances to bleed into Blake’s skin from Ruby’s own. She wonders if a semblance like it exists somewhere, perhaps belonging to someone in some coastal town where no one can harm them. They would deserve it. The world would deserve it. The good things are meant to be cherished.

She wonders if Weiss does the same. Not in Ruby’s way, but through her own methods. And Ren and Nora and Jaune - they would do anything to help even if their understanding slips through the sieve more often than not.

And when Blake finally smiles with warmth reflecting in her eyes, Ruby smiles back. They aren’t whole, not yet, but they’re getting there.

–

Yang they find forth.

–

The stars scatter in the sky as if someone painted their existence deliberately using brushstrokes of gold against a dark canvas. Ruby never memorized all the constellations, only the ones she liked the most, and occasionally she regrets that before remembering Yang always did.

Yang, whose yellow hair looks soft to the touch, now, and Ruby swears glimmers with the light of the sun. Even in the dark, they will always know their way.

Yang, whose eyes darken into something nearly red yet falter, slightly, because no friend deserves this. Perhaps she would have fallen into Blake’s arms if she were the type, but the silent words pass between them instead, and -

–

Like Weiss promised, Team RWBY exists again.


End file.
